Residents applauded Lin Zuluan's new role as another positive step in their struggle with local officials.

Unrest prompted by the seizure of farmland and accusations of electoral fraud by village heads escalated in December after Xue Jinbo, who had been negotiating with local authorities, died in custody. Provincial leaders stepped in and offered concessions 10 days after police and party officials fled the village in Guangdong province.

Residents welcomed that intervention but remained concerned they could still face retribution and pledges might not be delivered fully.

They cheered the appointment of 67-year-old Lin – announced at a meeting of Communist party members on Sunday – as a good sign. He will also lead the team arranging another election to elect a new village committee. Provincial investigators have declared the last race invalid.

"It is a good thing indeed. Most villagers are very happy about this," said resident Yang Shimao.

"Lin Zuluan was the actual leader of our previous rights protection movement. With this new position he will consider our village's interests and our people's interests."

But Yang added that it was not good news for Lin, warning he would probably face "slander from vested interest groups".

"Our village will still face difficulties in the future since vested interest groups will definitely find all kinds of ways to obstruct," Yang said.

Another villager told the state-run English language Global Times newspaper that he hoped the new party committee would help bring a satisfactory conclusion to the investigation into land seizure in Wukan.

Last week the Straits Times reported that a villager killed himself after becoming stressed at repeated phone calls from local authorities telling him to turn himself in for involvement in the protests. One relative said every household had received repeated calls.

Separately, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday that the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, stressed the need for farmers' land rights to be protected in an article for the influential Communist party journal Seeking Truth.